


Surprising Reunion

by ThatRadFailure



Series: Baker Delta AU [16]
Category: BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Baker Delta AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Family Issues, Fluff, Gun mentions, He's just behind Delta in terms of a father tier list, I think this is a bit of fluff?, I'm sure of it, If I need to add tags, M/M, Marital Issues, Mark Meltzer is such a good father though he put his life on the line for Cindy, Please tell me., So she's just Mrs. Meltzer in this fic, Sorry I didn't know Amanda's first name when writing, but also some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRadFailure/pseuds/ThatRadFailure
Summary: Augustus Sinclair took a small look back a his time in Rapture, and finds a surprise comes through the bakery doors. Never thought him going through hell would help save a marriage.
Relationships: Augustus Sinclair/Subject Delta
Series: Baker Delta AU [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998121
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Surprising Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Amanda Meltzer still went through with the divorce.

Mark and Cindy Meltzer were two names that Augustus Sinclair could remember all too well from his escape from Rapture. Something tells the man that it turned out worse than it could have, but when he watched through the cameras as Delta entered the carousel room to a shrieking Big Sister and a father struggling for his daughter, it was already pretty bad.

It was brutal. Augustus was terrified for the father especially, considering he only had a pistol for defence, and no healing factor, but Delta had been careful when fighting off the Big Sister that threatened to take both Meltzers away. Once she was gone, Cindy had naturally gone to Subject “Mr. Bubbles” Delta instead of her own father, and, through Delta’s helmet camera, Augustus could see the heartbreak in Mark’s own face. Because his daughter had chosen a behemoth covered in blood and with no warm features to see to be trusted over her own flesh and blood. It likely would’ve broken any man.

Hell, Mark even raised his pistol to Delta. Though it shook, the man would do anything for his daughter. Sinclair could still hear his shaky words, “Don’t you even think about taking my daughter away from me.”

That wasn’t sweet old Delta’s plan at all. It surprised Augustus as well, but it must have cemented something in the old Big Daddy’s mind that a mere human with just a pistol and medkit would fight off something he couldn’t even hope to kill or even injure enough to make such a thing turn tail and run. Like anything did that in Rapture. Perhaps part of the Meltzer story even reminded Delta of his own search for Eleanor. 

Delta had reached his hand out to Mark, offering a medkit of his as a peace offering. The man had no clear injury that needed treating, but medical supplies were naturally immensely valuable. Mark had been so very shocked, slowly lowered his gun as he looked between the kit and Delta’s visor. Porthole? Window? Augustus would stick to calling it a visor.

Once Mark had gotten close enough to take the kit, the Big Daddy patted the man’s head ever so gently, to tell him it was ok, that there was no danger with him. Even let out a low, peaceful rumble. Then, he had picked Cindy up. This part surprised Augustus the most, as Delta was very meticulous in collecting all the ADAM he could. He never even used all of it, it was just a habit from his programming. Nonetheless, he cured Cindy right then and there, and put her in Mark’s arms. Augustus had never seen a man so quick to cry.

From there, the memory faded into the rest in Augustus Sinclair’s mind. The Big Daddy led the father and daughter duo to the train cart, and, once they reached Fontaine Futuristics, they found a secret bathysphere, leaving them to return to the surface. The found family that was made of Augustus, Delta, Eleanor, and some sisters hadn’t seen either of them since.

For months, Augustus had nagging fears in his mind that they had been killed, shot down with a torpedo like another bathysphere Delta had previously encountered in the ocean surrounding Rapture. He honestly thought he would never know the truth.

Until little Cindy entered the bakery with a woman holding her hand, no Mark Meltzer in sight.

Naturally, she recognized Augustus, her little face lighting up. She began to bounce in place, pointing at the man, repeating “mommy, mommy!” until the woman looked down to her daughter and heard the explanation. But the woman just shook off the word “Rapture” specifically with a “That’s nice, sweetie.”

Augustus didn’t quite like when parents shrugged off their children’s excitement. He wasn’t free from this, of course, but he never claimed not to be a hypocrite. Plus, he actively tried to avoid it himself, only doing it when he was too deep in work like taxes to even clearly comprehend his daughters’ various words.

The woman that the business man could only assume to be Mrs. Meltzer approached the counter Augustus was positioned at after taking a second to look over the menu, her daughter excitedly skipping over with.

“Hello, Mr. Sinclair!” Cindy nearly shouted, and Augustus flashed her his kindest smile.

“Well, hello to you, kiddo,” He hummed. “How’s it been with your dear ol’ daddy? Truely an impressive act, weaselin’ his way into ol’ Rapture.” Mrs. Meltzer gave him a tired look, clearly done with this “Rapture” business. Honestly, so was the Panamanian, but it was the only thing he could really speak about with the little girl.

“Uhm... I dunno, mommy doesn’t let me see him unless it’s a holiday.” Cindy said innocently, proceeding to ask if Subject Delta was around.

“Oh, uh, yes, he’s here. Makin’ some yummy treats in the back.” Augustus’ heart panged a little at the thought of such a young child being split in a divorce. What more, the man that had put his neck on the line, nearly gotten it taken off his shoulders, to get his daughter back. Only to have her taken away.

“Can I see him? Can I? Can I?”

“Why, o’ course! But you’ll hardly recognize him, he ain’t no Big Daddy anymore. He’s all better now,” Naturally, his honeyed voice hid any out of place feeling in Augustus’ voice. He watched with a chuckle as Cindy’s face lit up once more, began to bounce again and excitedly tell her own mother, though it must have been the thousandth time, about Subject Delta. “Just give me a moment to get the big ol’ teddy.” He tacked on, stepping away from the counter to step into the kitchen, and then a few steps more than usual to make his low voice unheard from the front.

Delta eyed over to his husband curiously as he kneaded some bread dough. It was a sight that made Augustus’ heart flutter, such a big man working so meaningfully and dedicatedly. But he had no time to swoon, nor was this the place to.

“Hey, chief? Won’t believe this, but lil’ ol’ Cindy Meltzer’s here. She wants to see you.” Of course Delta lit up, his relaxed expression, which naturally looked like an unfriendly scowl, softened measures. He always had a soft spot for children, and the former Little Sisters especially. “One thing, though,” Augustus added on as Delta stopped to wipe the flour from his hands onto his apron, “It seems her mommy got a divorce from daddy. And got custody.” The former Big Daddy’s smile faded a little, but he pulled it back into place with a nod. Pulled it back in place for Cindy.

He left the kitchen, the smaller of the duo trailing behind him for a glimpse of Mrs. Meltzer’s reaction as the 7 foot man ducked his head to avoid the average height door frame. While the woman’s eyes widened in shock and confusion, Cindy’s eyes lit up with surprise and excitement.

“Mr. Delta? Is that you?” She asked innocently. Delta nodded and showed her the back of his left hand, where the symbol for the Greek letter the former Big Daddy was named after had been carved in, the raised, pale scars only slightly jagged. “Like your glove!” Cindy commented, which was replied to with a nod and a purr.

He stepped out from behind the counter, taking a knee to hug the tiny girl. It wasn’t his intention to let an excited noise, whale like in nature, with only vague hints at anything human. It made the little girl giggle, but her mom looked rather concerned.

“What... What is he doing? How is he making that noise?” She quietly questioned, to no one in particular.

“Oh, that? Ah, it’s jus’ his way of communicatin’. He’s sayin’ how much he’s missed her.” Augustus was almost smug, he always felt smug when he was the only one that could understand Delta. “Th’ ol’ scientists weren’t too kind to Big Daddies, replaced their vocal cords with artificial voice boxes an’ cut out their tongues. Can’t speak a lick of English anymore, an’ refuses to learn sign language for... whatever reason. Ah, you should’ve seen the doctors faces when they were workin’ on reversing the Big Daddy process on him when he first made a noise. Hella scary when he needs it to be, too.”

The woman stood there for a moment, soaking in Sinclair’s words. He could even see the cogs in her brain working as pieces were put into place.

“Do... you happen to have a telephone I could use for a second?” She finally asked, eyes still locked on Delta as Cindy proceeded to tell him all about how her life had been since going their separate ways.

“Not in here, no. Least not for public use. The laundromat next door, though, they got pay phones.” Augustus said, a tad disappointed that he couldn’t listen in. He was a nosey man, after all. Rapture was all about gossip, and he was still unlearning some of those habits. Mrs. Meltzer, though, nodded. She approached Delta and her daughter cautiously, telling them that she would be a moment next door. They both nodded, and Sinclair smiled, Delta returning to listening to Cindy’s continuous babbling. How children managed to not run out of breath while speaking so fast and so long, neither man would quite understand.

When Cindy’s mother returned, she found her daughter settled in one of the bakery’s few seats, enjoying a cookie and glass of milk as she drew. But the woman didn’t go to her immediately, rather heading for Sinclair instead.

“You were at Rapture, right?”

“Arrived early on, yes. Got stuck there for a decade after it fell. Well, a few months off, as Eleanor would rather me put it. What about that Hell hole?” For as smug as Augustus liked to be, and for as much as he wanted to possibly open the opportunity for Cindy’s family to come back together, Rapture was still a sore spot for him. The terrible memories and guilt, even without digging into it, dug and ate at him every chance they got.

“And... It’s real?”

“Unfortunately. And I wouldn’t go lookin’ for it, Splicers don’t take too kindly to anyone. I’m surprised Mark even lasted so long, and went toe to toe with a Big Sister at that. Those were the things that were kidnappin’ young girls like your Cindy.”

Mrs. Meltzer looked at him for a moment.

“What happened to Cindy, then? Mark... He said she wasn’t right when he found her, but that... That Delta had ‘cured’ her of something.”

A sore spot. He was hoping this would be something to avoid, but it wasn’t the worst topic.

“Ah, she... Got turned to a Little Sister,” Augustus started to explain, glancing down at the countertop for a moment as he attempted to find the words he wanted to use. Sometimes he missed being a guide in a train cart, because it was a lot easier to speak to someone over the radio about heavy topics than face to face.

“See... It wasn’t... Hm. Well, see, Rapture ran on somethin’ called ADAM. A sorta... genetic goo that would give ya all sorts of neat lil’ powers and such. I’m sure Delta wouldn’t mind givin’ a demonstration. And that stuff came from these sea slugs some doctor found. The slugs themselves didn’t give much o’ the stuff, but, somehow, someone figured out that if ya put ‘em in a little girl’s stomach linin’, an’ only a little girl’s, it would give so much more ADAM that could be refined an’ sold off.” The look on the woman’s face turned from skeptical curiosity to utter horror, and she glanced back to her own daughter. “The doctor that found it out grew a conscience, though, an’ made a plasmid to cure the Sisters. Oh, sorry, plasmids were a kinda refined ADAM. Plasmids an’ tonics were the two main kinds.”

“You mean he wasn’t lying?”

“After seein’ Mark pull a gun on Delta, who can still take a bullet to his bare skin, who could tear out that man’s spine like it was nothin’ more than a string, who could crush each bone to dust, I have no reason to think of that would make that man lie about Rapture.”

Again, Mrs. Meltzer paused to think. To decide on if she really did believe this all. Naturally, it wasn’t all hard proof, though no alternate explanation could be given as to Delta’s noises. But all the same, it sounded just purely impossible. Sea slugs that produced weird goo that gave people weird powers, whatever a Big Daddy was, a city under the ocean...

“May I... See some of those plasmids?” She finally asked. Sinclair nodded, and called for Delta to come back. He gladly did after a minute, likely after having done something with oil or such, as he wiped his hands clean with a dish towel.

“Mind if you give a lil’ show for Mrs. Meltzer here of your fancy plasmids?” Augustus asked in his smoothest, honestest voice, knowing full well that Delta would be conflicted. And he was right, as the hulking man looked between the two other adults in the room. “Please, son? Jus’ a lil’ show, nothin’ dangerous?” Secretly, Augustus flashed the former Big Daddy his puppy eyes, something the man couldn’t resist. With a sigh, he nodded, and his left hand burst into flames.

It caught Mrs. Meltzer off guard, causing her to yelp and jump a step back. In his concern for the woman, Delta’s hand extinguished, without a trace of fire to it. She still stared at it, though, at the hand that had so suddenly burst into flames. Even when Delta began to scowl his husband through grunts, groans, and whale noises, she still stared, trying to piece what in her mind had just happened.

Slowly, after a minute of shock, she seems to compose herself, pieces of a puzzle fitting into place. She nodded, stepping from the counter and heading to her daughter.

“Sweetie,” She said, “How would you like to surprise daddy with a visit?” Both of the men behind the counter stopped when they heard little Cindy’s excitement. Mrs. Meltzer quickly left after that, buying some sweet treats at the little girl’s insistence while Delta made Augustus put the cookie on the house. It was just one. After the bell to the front rang shut, both men hoped the best for the family. But they honestly couldn’t know unless they visited again, and there was no telling for either of them if or when that would happen.

**Author's Note:**

> Gus will swoon for his husband almost every chance he could get.


End file.
